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Friday, April 1, 2011

In the 2008 Canadian federal election both the NDP and Liberals favored physician-assisted suicide. And in 2008 Washington State followed the lead of Oregon, to become the second state to allow physician-assisted suicide. We’re fighting a culture of death, and euthanasia is the newest battleground.

Turning the Tide is intended to be a tool in this fight, and it is a good one. The strength of this documentary is the expertise assembled on camera: pro-life advocate Wesley Smith; Bobby Schindler, the brother of Terri Schiavo; Senator Sharon Carstairs, who headed a Senate committee on euthanasia; Alex Schadenberg, the head of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition; and from our own Canadian Reformed circles, Adrian Dieleman. They make it clear what a slippery slope we are on, and outline a series of solid, compelling arguments against assisted suicide.

But the film has a glaring weakness. Turning the Tide hardly even mentions the spiritual dimension, shuffling it off to a small five minute segment in the bonus features section of the DVD. This is clearly meant to be a secular presentation, but because they hardly dare mention God’s name, the film ultimately isn’t able to explain why the life of every person – disabled, elderly, depressed, or otherwise – is precious. We are, all of us, made in God’s image.

Still, it is an eye-opening documentary, and for its short length, an extensive look at this deadly quest – it covers a lot of ground. I’d suggest it should be mandatory viewing in our Christian schools. The DVD comes with a discussion guide and you can view the trailer below.